Watercolour Wings by Helen Chilton where she shows you how to use your pens to stencil beautiful watercolour backgrounds and ink your stamps

Emy Buxton's Sublime Ceramics where she uses Fimo Liquid to create a gorgeous glaze for ceramic beads and pendants

Paint My World, where R. Maria Sabina shows you how to get delicate painted strokes perfect for colouring feather images

So with a quick round up of the projects in this month's issue and a little sneak peek at the details we know you'll be running to the shops this Friday to grab your copy! You should be able to find a copy in all good craft stores across the UK or if you want yours instantly then you can download a copy from Pocketmags! If you want to make sure you never miss a copy then you can also call our friendly Customer Service team on 01684 588599 and subscribe! Happy stamping all!

Tuesday, 28 April 2015

Hello and welcome to the latest in our regular "Meet the Team" series, introducing some of the regular contributers to Craft Stamper. Today's designer is Jaine Drake...

Hello there, I’m Jaine Drake (stands up) and I’m a craftaholic. A day doesn’t go by without me doing something crafty. Whether it’s a bit of cutting and sticking or some sketching doesn’t matter, if I’m not doing something I get itchy fingers and have to relieve it with a bit of stash stroking.

I’ve been living the expat life in Luxembourg, which is a small country squashed between France, Belgium and Germany, for about twenty years now. It’s a small but utterly beautiful country covered with forest with tonnes of fantastic history. Most people tell me they’ve passed through it on their way somewhere else but really it’s totally worth stopping off. I live here with my husband and three grown up girlies in a small village which I’ve tried to make my little piece of England abroad.

I joined the Craft Stamper team at the end of 2011 and my first publication was in February 2012. It was such a big deal and I proudly showed off my pages at every opportunity. I still get a huge buzz when my contributor's copy comes in the letterbox.

Favourite project #1
I’ve
started to feel more confident using my own drawings on projects which
I’ll show on my blog and this canvas is one of those projects. It shows
not only my own drawing but the texture I love and collage which I also
like to do.

I suppose my stamping story goes right back to the 1990s when we lived then in the Middle East. I didn’t work and to pass the time joined a group of crafty ladies sewing and learning cross stitch. One American lady there brought some cards she’d made using stamps, I was amazed at how simple and beautiful they were, just one layer cards, simple stamping and some colouring in but I fell in love. The materials came from the US and were difficult to get hold of and at that time I was still trying out all sorts of other crafts including quilling but once we arrived back in Europe, I was introduced to it again and this time materials were much easier to find. My obsession had started.

Favourite project #2
Even
though Christmas has passed, I still wanted to include the cards here.
This was the second Christmas I’d been able to mass make cards using my
own designs. I’m lucky enough to not only be on the Design Team with Sarah Hurley but also to have my own stamp range with her, something I’m absolutely thrilled about. The cards were simply stamped and water coloured mainly because
when mass making cards it’s better to keep things simple but also water
colour painting is a favourite way of adding colour for me.

A:Over the years I’ve gone through many different styles from shabby chic and vintage to clean and simple testing them out but I always come back to a handful of colours and lots of texture in my work. Mixed media is my passion and I love the freedom it gives me to really go to town and create without restriction. I love colour, vibrancy and using texture paste most of all.

Favourite project #3
In the past I was also on the team of Scrap 365. Mini books have been a firm favourite of mine for many years and a lot of my hand made books have been made with paper bags. This paper bag book was decorated with a background stamp from Sarah Hurley and I’d also hand made my own washi tape.

A: I’m a lover of Pinterest and I can easily spend a few hours looking
through pretty pictures. It’s a constantly renewing source of
inspiration from colour combinations to photo staging. I also have a
sketchbook and an inspiration journal where I keep ideas and themes. I
find these great places to go if I’m working on a project.

Saturday, 25 April 2015

We
are looking for submissions for our Ready, Set, Stamp feature on the
following theme for our September issue of Craft Stamper. If you've always
wanted to see YOUR card in print, now is your chance!!

Deadline for submission: 19th May 2015

· Please email your submissions to cs@traplet.com

· Please put 'Ready Set Stamp' followed by the theme in the subject line

· Please note that due to the number of submissions it's not possible to
contact every entrant individually - if you have not heard from us within one
week, your submission has not been successful. Please try again with a different card!

Guidelines:

· Please make cards only for this gallery.. Please do not use stamps that are discontinued for this article. Also please only use stamps that are available to buy in the UK (the exception is stamps from advertisers e.g. Art Journey, De Stempelwinkel).. We do not accept cards created with digital stamps ONLY for this feature. Digital stamps MUST be used in conjunction with real stamping to qualify.

· Cards which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper
offices in the UK.

· This call IS open internationally.

· Note that we do choose artwork as it arrives, so please don't wait
until the last minute to submit if your cards are ready.

· Cards will be returned at our expense, along with a complimentary copy
of the magazine in which your card features. Note this can take approx. three
months.

· Please follow both the theme AND the colour scheme when creating your
cards. You can add black, white and metallics to any of the schemes.

· Text for this article is required (don't worry - it is short!) and
should be entered into the document provided – this will be sent to you if you
are selected.

Congratulations Lin! Those colours are simply stunning, we love how the butterflies seem to be dancing across the card! We loved it! Lin will
win a Guest Designer slot, a Winners Profile and of course her gorgeous project will be published in Craft Stamper Magazine.

As always, we have the remaining two slots in our Design Top Three to reveal, they are in no particular order :)

Sunday, 19 April 2015

Hello!Craft Stamper Magazine has a feature dedicated to YOUR art... so we need to find some fabulous projects to fill it!We know you lot are very talented, so we think you should share your talents with our readers... A few tips to getting your art published:

We are a mixed media magazine, with an emphasis on excellent stamping skills . If this sounds like your work, you are on the right lines!

We want to convey a bright, vibrant, happy feeling in the magazine. Projects that are dark, grungy or mostly brown are not our thing!

We welcome all kinds of art : Art panels, Journal pages, 3D assemblage, Sculpture, Fabric art, Canvases, Layouts, Tags, Upcycling, Home Decor etc. For this feature however, we will NOT be accepting cards.

So, fancy getting you and your art noticed by the UK's best mixed media magazine?

Why not give it a go, you've nothing to lose!

· Please email your submissions to cs@traplet.com

· Please put 'Reader Submission' in the subject line

· Please note that due to the number of submissions it's not possible to
contact every entrant individually - if you have not heard from us within one
week of emailing your submission, you have been unsuccessful with that project. Please try again with another project! . There is no deadline involved with this call out, this is an ongoing feature so requires projects for each and every issue.

Guidelines:

· Readers Submissions can be anything at all apart from a card. This feature is NOT for cards.. Please do not use stamps that are discontinued for this article. Also please only use stamps that are available to buy in the UK (the exception is stamps from advertisers e.g. Art Journey, De Stempelwinkel).. We do not accept projects created with digital stamps ONLY for this feature. Digital stamps are welcome, but must be used in conjunction with 'real' stamping to qualify.

· Projects which are selected need to be posted to the Craft Stamper
offices in the UK.

· This call IS open internationally.

· Note that we do choose artwork as it arrives, so please don't hesitate to submit if your projects are ready.

· Projects will be returned at our expense, along with a complimentary copy
of the magazine in which your project features. Note this can take approx. three
months or longer, depending upon the issue in which your project is published.

· Text for this article is required and
should be entered into the document provided – this will be sent to you if you
are selected. Help can be given with this if needed!

. Projects submitted should be NEW WORK only, and not previously published in print or online, or submitted to any other publication. *Please do not submit work that you have blogged already!*

Karen won the challenge with this fabulous card, showing off her great eye for colour and superb stamping skills:

We asked Karen a few questions all about stamping (well, we are Craft Stamper after all!)

Q: How long have you
been a stamper, and how did you get started?

A: I have always crafted since I was a child and loved to
craft with my children and now my daycare children. Since I loved making and giving away cards for birthdays it made
perfect sense to stamp then I got seriously hooked on stamping years ago when I
found Splitcoast Stampers. Amazing
talent and inspiration there.

Q: What are your
favourite kinds of stamps, and do you have a favourite stamp company?

A: I guess I would have to stay my favourite
kind of stamps are florals. I
especially love the flower silhouettes as I can colour on them with markers,
spray with water and stamp. I can
create them in many blended colours.

I
have many favourite stamping companies especially Penny Black, Hero Arts and
Rubbernecker.

Q: Describe your style,
are you a messy kind of stamper or a more ‘clean and simple’ kind of person?

A: I would have to say that I am a ‘Clean and Simple’ – a
CAS stamper who likes to dabble with techniques and try new things without
adding all the layers and embellishments.

Q:What kind of projects do you like creating the most?

A: I create cards.
I can create a card, send it and hope it brings some happiness to
brighten the recipient’s day. Also, it
is not a long time commitment as I have such a busy life with my little daycare
children.

Q: Apart from stamps,
what is the one product you wouldn’t be without when you craft?

A: I couldn’t do without my Distress
inks. There are so many things you can
do with them other than just stamping.
Since they blend with water, you can watercolour with them, use them to
stencil, sponge or just stamp.

There
are so many wonderful techniques for different looks using these inks.

We
also asked Karen to show us a couple of her favourite stamped creations,
and share why she likes them so much. Here are the gorgeous projects she has
chosen:

"This card was made using my newest obsession Bister. Bisters are a
paint medium that you sprinkle on your paper and spray on water. The
bursts of colour you can achieve are wonderful using them." -Karen

"This card was created by using a favourite technique of
mine....Embossing Folder Stamping. You ink the inside of your embossing
folder then spray with water and press your paper into the wet ink. I
use Distress inks on mine. It is such a wonderful way to get more
mileage from your folders." -Karen

Congratulations on being our March Design Winner Karen, and it was lovely to learn a little more about you!

Do YOU fancy having a winners profile all about you on the CS blog?

The
profile is part of the prize package for each Design Winner of our
challenges. All you need to do is enter a creation into the challenge,
then if you are voted Design Winner everyone will be reading all about
you before you know it!

Our current challenge 'Take A Technique : Colour' is still open for a few more days! All the details can be found HERE.

You won't have long to wait before you see the first stunning DT creations by these lovely ladies... the poor things have been thrown straight in at the deep end and will be debuting in our May challenge!

Pssst....don't forget the April challenge is still open for another week and a bit! Details HERE.

The
Design Winner, voted for by our DT, will have their project
published, have a guest DT slot for an upcoming challenge, and ALSO
gets their very own winners profile here on the blog....so why
not get busy with the colour (don't forget to include some stamping!) , we'd love to see
your creation!

Friday, 3 April 2015

As
you might remember, this year our challenge is alternating between
'Take A Stamp', and 'Take A Technique'....and this month our challenge
is 'Take A Technique'!Well, not so much a technique as a theme.... this month we want you to go all out with the colour!

April Challenge:

'Take A Technique: Colour'

Nothing dark, monochrome or grungy please, we want bright, vibrant and cheerful! You don't HAVE to use every single colour of the rainbow all at once...but maybe lots of them?!

So....lets
see how creative you lot are...get your stamps out and share your
journal pages, layouts, 3D assemblage or whatever else takes your fancy!***
Sadly, quite a few entries last month did not follow the guidelines, so
they could not be considered for a prize. PLEASE remember to only
include just the one project in your blog posts, we just want to see the
project you are entering, no others! Full guidelines can be found in
the right hand sidebar.***

We
have two prizes on offer this month, the first is our sponsor
prize.This winner will be chosen randomly from all of the entries in the
challenge! The sponsor for March is

IndigoBlu are a UK company, specialising in rubber stamps! Superb quality and wonderful designs, you really need to check out the hundreds of fabulous images on offer. IndigoBlu is also THE place to go for the marvellous Flitterglu and gliding flakes, not to mention the incredible paint range! The prizes for our randomly chosen winner this month are these two exquisite stamps:

I can imagine all sorts of stunning creations made with those beauties, our randomly drawn prize winner will be a very lucky person!

Our
second winner is our Design Winner. This winner is chosen by our DT,
who all vote for their favourite design from all of the entries. This
winner will have their winning project published in Craft Stamper
Magazine, they will have a GDT slot for an upcoming challenge, and will
also feature in their very own Winners Profile blog post!

I
hope the prizes have given you all an incentive to win...... and how
about some eye candy from the DT to give you some colourful inspiration!

I have to say...there are some STUNNERS there, that's what I call inspiration!

So, want to enter?!

All
you need to do is have a quick look through all the essential rules and
guidelines (on the right hand sidebar and a tab at the top of the page), and then link up using the
Linky Tool below. We can't wait to see your creations!

Pssst.... before I go....don't forget we have a DT call going on right now! This is your chance to be part of our team...when we launch our next challenge in May you could have a project up there ^ ^^ too! All the details are HERE

Thursday, 2 April 2015

Hi there and happy Thursday!
Last month in Craft Stamper I shared a card in the Ready Set Stamp section of a shaker card using sequins, I wanted to show today though that other things can be used in the shaker element of the card to get different effects. I love the effect that seed beads give in a shaker card, they give a much more satisfying sound (I think), and as they are a little heavier they all seem to drop and find there own level.... I think that works great to give the effect of liquid in a jar.

I'd love to know and see what else you crafty people would use inside a shaker card!